Ice-cream-storage cabinet



- 1,697,313 F. M. GRAHAM 1cm 03m! STORAGE cmsmm Filed Sept. 27, 1927 M sn 1 1 V fawn/5r W171i; A mill 7. 5121x11 :6? WW fi /7412?! "HER-275E513.

Patented Jan. 1, 1929.

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STATES FRANK M. GRAHAM, OFOTTU-MWA, IOWA. I

ICE-GREAM-STORAGE CABINET.

Application filed September 27, 1927. Serial No..222,288.

My invention relates to ice cream storage cabinets of the dry pack type,using salt and brine.

The purpose of my invention is to provide an ice cream storage cabinethaving a dry compartment or compartments for receiving containers forice cream or other articles, which it is desired to 'keep cool orfrozen, each such storage compartment being provided with one or moreinner walls for forming a separate narrow passage or passages inside thesaid storage compartment between such inner wall and the main wall,which are of less capacity than the .main storage compartment, andare incommunication with the main storage compartment at the top and bottomthereof, whereby there is insured a circulation of air downwardlythrough the narrow outside passage or passages and upwardly through themain storage compartment. My cabinet has outside such storagecompartment or compartments a compartment for ice, brine andthe like.The ice and brine space I will call the ice and salt-compartment.

A further purpose of my invention is to provide an ice cream storagecabinet having an ice and salt compartment provided with one or moresectional inner walls for forming a separate narrow passage or passagesinside the said ice and salt compartment, which are of less capacitythan the main iceand salt compartment and are in communication with themain ice and salt compartment at the top 7 and bottom thereof, wherebywhen sufficient ice has melted to bring the level of the brine to thetop of the inner sectional wall or walls there is assured a circulationof brine upwardly through the narrow passage or passages between theinnersectional wall and the outer wall of ice and salt compartment, anddownwardly through the ice in the ice and salt compartment.v

A further purpose of my invention is to provide in an ice cream storagecabinet 'hav-, ing an ice and salt compartment a drain valve providedwith a strainer whereby any undissolved salt or sediment is preventedfrom becoming lodged or clogged in the drain valve or pipe.

A further purpose of my invention is to provide in an ice cream storagecabinet a dry storage compartment or compartments resting on or near thebottom of the cabinet, surrounded by ice, brine and the like, means forkeeping the said storage compartment or compartments from floating,which means may be anchor bars to which are attached books or loopswhich loop over the upper rim of the storage compartment or compartendsto fins attached 'tothe lining of cabinet with removable pins or cotterkeys.

, Although the invention is susceptible of a variety of embodiments, itis unnecessary to fully describe and'illustrate more than one in-orderto give a full understanding of the invention both from its structuraland functional standpoints.

With these and other objects in View, invention consist in theconstruction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my icecream storage cabinet, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, ashereinafter more fully set forth, ,pointed-out in-my claims, andillustrated int-he accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 showsaperspective view of an ice tcjream storage cabinet embodying .my 'invenFigure 2 is a top or planiview of the-cabine Figure'3 is a'transverse,vertical, sectional view taken on the line 33 of Figure 1. t

Figure 4 is a vertical, sectional'view ofone of the stora ecompartments.

Figure 5 1s a detail, sectional view taken on the'line 5-5 of FigureB;and i r Figure 6 is a detail, sectional view ta-ken on the line'6 6 ofFigure 2.

Just at this time, .a large number of electrical refrigerators have beenput on the market; These have been very destructive to the icerefrigeration business. Electric refrigerators, however, requireconsiderable mechanical care "and are relativelyexpensive to operate. I

his a generalfcustom .for ice cream manufacturers to supply customerswith storage cabinets or refrigerator-s of some 'kind. The cost ofelectric and mechanical refrigerators is so great that the manufacturerwho furnishes them to each customer is required to invest in suchrefrigerators a large amount of capital.

One of the chief objections to salt and ice refrigeration arises fromthe fact that the ice must be changed or suppliedlevery day.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a. structurewhereby the ice and brine refrigerantmay be used for a fortyeight :hourperiod, so that the ice need not J30 ments, the anchor bars beingfastened at both i be replaced more than once in two days. .Thisdesirable result is accomplished by the structure hereinafter more fullydescribed.

Another objection to ice. and brine refrigeration and to nearly allother types of refrigeration arises from the difficulty of maintainingthe temperature at the top and bottom of the storage compartmentsubstantially uniform.

In most storage cabinets the temperature is considerably warmer at thetop of the cabinet. Another purpose of my present invention is toprovide means for insuring air circulaments.

The interior of the cabinet forms an ice and brine or refrigerantcompartment'l l, in Which ice and salt may be packed. Within thecompartment 1&1, there may be provided .as many storage compartments asis desired according to the size of the entire cabinet. As shown here, Ihave provided two storagecompartments, which may have substantiallytheform of cylindrical containers or compartments 16. The form andconstruction of these compartments 16 may be varied considerably. Thesedry compartments 16 are open at the top and closed at the bottom.

It will be noted that the storage compartments 16' are arranged in therefrigerant compartment in such manner that the ice and brine Wlllentirely surround each storage compartment.

- It is obv1ous, however, that the results I 'desire to attain could besecured in a substantial degree if the ice and saltcompartments did notextend entirely around the dry stor age compartments.

Each dry storage compartment 16 has an inner wall 18 terminating abovethe bottom partment.

and below the top of the compartment 16.

The wall 18 is. spaced from the inner face of the wall of thecompartment 16, ex-

.cept'at their side edges, which are secured to the walls of thecompartment 16.

Thus between the walls 18 and the walls of the compartments 16 areformed narrow passages 20 on one side of each dry storage com- Thenumber of such passages 20 could, of course, be varied and any structureadapted, square, round or oblong, with the inner wall 1 8 spaced fromthe outer wall of the compartment 16. V

The passage 20 may extend part way or entirely around the inside of thewall of the compartment 16, forming the narrow passage or passages incommunication with the storage compartment and arranged to permit theair to pass freely over the top and under the lower edge of the wall orwalls 18 to and from the storage space.

It is particularly to be noted that the capacity ofthe passage orpassages formed between the wall or walls 18 and the wall of the storagecompartment is less than the ca pacity of the storage compartment 16.This is a matter of importance for reasons which will now be set forth.

In the practical use of my improved ice cream storage cabinet, ice creamcans 22, bricks of ice cream or other articles which are to be kept coolare placed in the storage compartments 16, after the ice and saltcompartment has been filled with cracked ice and salt.

The construction of my ice cream cabinet is such that when the ice andsalt have been placed in the ice and salt compartment, and thematerialto be cooled is placed in the storage compartments, and the covers 12replaced on the cabinet, the desired air circulation will be created foraffording a maximum cooling of the ice cream or otherarticles in thestorage compartments with approximately uniform temperature through theentire depth of the storage compartments with a. minimum consumption ofice and salt.

A circulation of air will be immediately created downwardly through thenarrow passage 20 between the walls 18 and the walls of the storage.compartments, thence around the bottom of the Walls 18, and thenceupwardly through the storage compartment 16 around the articles whichare to be kept cool. This circulation of air is accomplished by theconstruction to which attention will now be called and has theadvantages hereinafter more fully referred to.

Because of the factthat the capacity of compartment 16 and because ofthe further fact that the cooling surface exposure in the passage 20 isgreater with relation to the volume of air therein, than is the coolingsurface of the compartment 16 with relation to the air therein, and thefact that the air in the compartment 16 is subject to the warminginfluence from the articles stored therein,

the relatively small amount of air in the" passage 20 will be quicklycooled and will drop. The slightly warmer air around the articles in thestorage compartment will rise as a result of the greater specificgravity of colder air in the passage 20.

When ice cream in relatively tall cans is placed in the storagecompartment, the warmer air in the compartment 'will. ob-

viously be at the upper part of the compart-- ment 16.

On account of the circulation of air which is immediately establishedowing to the features of construction already mentioned, it

'be losing its refrigeration.

ment therethrough by coming in contact with the cooling wall.

The air will pass around the bottom of the wall 16 and upwardly againarounc the articles stored, as it becomes slightly warmer and loses aportion of its specific gravity.

Thus the ten'iperature at the top and bot tom of the-storagecompartment-will be kept at about the same degree, which is of greatimportance.

Anotherpurpose of my invention is to provide an ice cream storagecabinet that will maintain sufiiciently low and uniform tem perature fora longer time without reicing, thereby reducing'the labor and truckingcost of servicing such cabinets. This purpose is attained by providing astructure which causes a: circulation of the brine at a predeterminedtime when the cabinet is likely to The circulation of brine is createdby means of'the sectional wall or walls 24, (Figures 2 and 3), spacedfrom the outer wall oft-he iceand salt compartment. The wall 2 1 .may beslidably mounted in guides 24" which frictionally engage wall 24: asshown to hold it in any adjusted position.

The wall 2a holds the ice away from the narrow passage '26, formedbetween it and the wall of the compartment 14. Brine, however, will flowinto this narrow passage and be in contact with the warmer outer wall ofthe ice and salt compartment 14,-and willbccome warmer and rise. Thecolder brine in the ice and salt compartment will drop in proportion tothe amount of brine rising through the passage 26. 7

hen the brine reaches the top of the inside sectional wall 24, therewill immediately be established a circulation of the brine up wardlythrough the narrow passage 26, over the upper edge of the sectional wall24, and downwardly through the ice in the ice and salt compartment 14.

. The ice at which this circulation of brine is created is governed bythe height of the sectional wall 24.

'By adjusting the height of the sectional wall. 24L to the approximatelevel of the brine resulting from the melting of the ice during thefirst eighteen to twenty-four hours after an icing, there will at thattime be immediately established a circulation of brine which has theeffect of putting new life into the refrigeration by the brine passingthrough the remaining unmelted ice in the icev and salt compartment.

It is obvious that the articles stored in the compartments 16 will bebenefited by the improved refrigeration.

By adjusting the wall 24, the device may be adapted to provide for thecommencement of the brine circulation at the right time in differentseasons or climates.

The ice and salt compartment 1 1- is provided with a drain pipe 28,leading from its lower part through the wall of the-cabinet 10. Acontrol cook 30 is provided for controlling flow through the pipe 28,and thus for permitting the draining and flushing of the compartment 14.

As a means for preventing the pipe 28 or cook 30 from becoming cloggedwith undissolved salt or sediment, I install a removable metal strainer32 in front-of the inner endof I the drain pipe. This strainer extendsfrom near the top of the ice and salt compartment to the bottom and isspaced from the ice and salt compartment wall to leave. suiiicientclearance in front of the drain pipe 28. I

The strainer 32 has side flanges 32*,'which travel in guides 34c, sothat the strainer may be removed by lifting it upwards.

By extending this strainer 32-practically-the full depth of the storagecompartment and providing the series of small strainer. holes from topto bottom, it is obvious that a free and uninterrupted outlet to thedrain pipe 28 will be effected even though considerable undissolved saltor sediment may have collected in the bottom of the ice and saltcompartment.

With such construction, means must be 6 provided for preventing themembers 16 ing lengthwise of the ice and .brine compartment near eachside. These bars 36 preferably have bifurcated ends 36, which may besecured to brackets 38 on the storage co1npartment walls by pins orcotter keys 40.

The bars 36carry hooks 4:2 for coacting with the tops of thecompartments 16 for holding the compartments down. Upon removing the pinor cotter key 40 at one end of each anchor bar, the bars can be swung upand the storage compartments can then be lifted out, leaving easy accessto the ice and salt compartment for thorough cleaning.

While I have illustrated in my drawings one particular form in which theinvention may be embodied, I realize that the device may be made in avariety of forms and it is not my intention to limit myself to theparticular form here disclosed, but it is my intention to cover by myclaims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents,which may be reasonably included within their scope. I

I claim as my invention:

1. In a storage cabinet, a cabinet having a refrigerant compartment, aplurality of storage compartments therein, each having on its interior awall spaced from its main wall, terminating above the bottom and belowthe top of the storage compartment and forming with the main wall anarrow passage of less capacity than the remaining interior of thestorage compartment, whereby air circulation from top to bottom will beprovided in that passage and from bottom upward through the storagecompartment. 7

2. In a storage cabinet, a cabinet having an ice and brine compartment,a plurality of storage compartments therein detachably resting on thebottom of the ice and brine compartment, and a locking bar removablysupported in the first compartment having means for engaging the severalstorage compartments for holding them down whereby the said compartmentsmay be locked down or released by movement of said means.

3. In a storage cabinet, a cabinet having an ice and brine compartment.a plurality of storage compartments therein detachably resting on thebottom 'of the ice and brine compartment, and a pivoted bar supported inthe first compartment and having means for engaging the several storagecompartments for holding them down, and means for locking said bar inoperative position.

4. In a storage cabinet, a cabinet having an ice and brine compartmentprovided with an inner wall spaced from its main wall, terandsubstantially below the top of such compartment, whereby thereisprovided a narrow, vertical brine passage, said inner wall beingvertically adjustable.

5. In an ice cream storage cabinet having an ice and brine compartmentwith a drain pipe leading from its lower part, vertical guides attachedto the ice and brine compartment wall, a removable strainer fitted insaid vertical guides for forming a narrow passage from top to bottom ofthe ice and brine compartment in front of drainpipe whereby a freepassage of brine to the narrow passage and the exclusion of largeparticles therefrom is effected.

6. In a storage cabinet, a cabinet having a refrigerant compartment, aplurality of storage compartments therein detachably resting on thebottom of the ice and brine compartment, pivoted bars supported in thefirst compartment and having means for engaging the storage compartmentsfor holding them down, means for locking said bars in operativeposition, each of said compartments having on its interior a'wall spacedfrom its main wall, terminating above the bottom and below the top ofthe storage compartment and forming with the main wall a narrow passageof less capacity than the remaining interior of the storage compartment,whereby air circulation from top to bottom will be provided in thatpassage and from bottom upward through the storage compartment, said iceand brine compartment provided with an inner wall spaced from its mainwall, terminating a short distance above the bottom and substantiallybelow the top of such compartment, whereby there is provided a narrow,vertical brine passage, said inner wall being vertically adjustable.

Des Moines, Iowa, September 8, 1927 FRANK M. GRAHAM.

